Batch Shipping Details
As orders of various shipping priority and methods arrive to be fulfilled, Iridium sorts the orders to be processed; there are several methods that a batch can be sorted by; the number of lines in an order, shipping method, weight or size for larger items, etc. The shipping methods supported are as follows; Fed Ex 2nd Day, UPS Ground, and USPS via Endicia, other methods may be available upon request. Any shipping tags or postage is printed at the time that the invoice is pulled from the channel. International orders are also supported within the Iridium tool. Customs tags are printed at the time of shipment tag printing.
Note: If the order manages to get through the fulfillment process and then it is discovered that the product is out of stock, the fulfillment team would then put the product into an out of stock state, which would then send out an email to the customer saying we are out of stock and their product will be in at a specified amount of time. The same process is available for when that product comes back into stock and email will automatically be sent to any customers that are said to be waiting on the product, and informing them that it is set to ship.
Batch Defined
A batch can be made up by several different categories. It can be of any number of orders just selected chronologically, or it can be more specific. Common sorting categories include, number of line items in an order, size, and shipping method. The batch is then organized by the items within the orders, more specifically the bins that they reside in within the warehouse. The process by which they are picked is reviewed in depth in The Picker section.
The Picker
The picker is the designated employee(s) that retrieves the inventory for a batch of orders awaiting shipment. The picking process is key in functioning as efficiently as possible. By combining the use of bins with a strategic picking method, the employee does not retrace steps. Time is spent efficiently by picking items form bins in a fashion that has the batch of orders reorganized and all of the items needed in that batch are picked by their bin location, not specifically by the order itself. Some products are needed in more than one order; the Picker has the necessary quantity displayed on their list. Once the product is picked from the shelf it is placed into a cart with the rest of the batched items. Everything that is collected into the cart by the Picker will be shipped with that batch of orders. Once every item has been picked the Picker passes the products onto the Packer.
Picking Process
This process starts by dividing up all of the orders that are awaiting fulfillment. The division of the orders is referred to as batching. Batches can be sorted by, the number of lines in an order, shipping method, weight or size for larger items, etc.
Orders come in and of the products in said orders a pick list is produced that sends the Picker through the warehouse once, and the bins are indicated in ascending order that need stopping at to pick a product, or multiple quantities of the product. Every product from the batch is picked and then put into a cart which can hold all of the products gathered from the list.
The Packer
The Packer receives a list of a batch including individual orders. All of the items needed to fulfill those orders are located within the cart which the Picker previously collected. Everything the Packer needs is in one spot. This simplifies the Packers job of going through every order and finding the items necessary to fulfill the order. Each individual order is packed. At the end of the batch the Packer processes the Batch Completion and the packages are set for shipping.
Batch Completion
Vendor Order Filfillment
Iridium supports the option to have orders fulfilled by the distributing vendor. This process allows for inventory to be sold without having it in physical possession. The Iridium tool can automatically generate purchase orders and send them to the vendors. The order fulfillment is then processed by the vendor and the product is sent directly to the customer.